Holy wow! It's been a while since we've checked in and we've been up to losta fun, new and exciting things!

The childrens album, 'Growing Up Humboldt' now exists in a completely tangible form! CDs will be available for the public to snag up this Wednesday at the Redwood Curtain Brewery. Also, a dollar from every beer sold will help First5 purchase musical instruments for their play groups. Easy peasy: show up, drink beer and keep the music alive in our community!!!

Also, we've been in the studio recording some new-old jazz standards and jazzy tunes! We're excited to share 'em with yall... and expect to be wrapping up that project in the next couple of months. If you're curious to hear what kinda sounds we've been making lately, check out our soundcloud page here.

Also, I've been working on fulfilling a life-long dream: to play double bass. I recently acquired an upright bass from a friend and am excited to hold down the low end with a couple of my favorite brothers on their new project. Be sure to stay tuned for all this and more as we juggle all these exciting new projects... I'mma try and keep yall updated better than I have in the past. XO- Battle

03.23.2016

Spring is springing, and we've had a mighty busy winter full of music and merrymaking! In what seems like an impossible feat, a whole lotta kind-hearted Humboldt County musicians have come together to arrange and record the children's album for First5 Humboldt and:

the kid's album is recorded, mixed and has been sent off to master!!!!

It all started on January 1st of this year. I'm super happy to say that in a matter of three months, over 30 super talented folks brought a whole lotta heart to this project and created a collection of 21 children's songs... Humboldt County is sure to be gettin' their boogie in with em real soon!

First5 Humboldt will be pressing up 1,000 copies available for free to any family that comes to free playgroups held county-wide!I also recently learned that North Coast Children's Services (Head Start and Early Head Start) will be pressing up an additional 1,000 copies to distribute for free to all Humboldt County preschools! Outside of First5 playgroups and North Coast Children's Service programs, it remains uncertain when/where interested folks will be able to get a copy. Keeping in mind that the mission behind this project is to get families singing and playing music together...I feel confident in saying that copies will be available to anyone interested if not for free, in a way that proceeds will go directly to the organizations who made this at all possible. I will keep you posted as we learn more.

The musicians who contributed to this project are freakin' awesome! Many of them donated their time, talents, creativity and great energy to make this gift to our community... others were paid very minimally for their contributions. Here's a list of performers (with links to their independent projects if I have them) we can thank for making it all happen:

In addition to these musicians, Jose Quezada and Heather Shelton are the pioneers behind getting the grant to do this project and will be taking the CD to the playgroups and leading music circles throughout Humboldt. If you see any of these folks out and about, give em a high five for being rad and community-minded. I feel safe in saying we all had a really fun time putting this together and look forward to sharing it with our community!

In the meantime, here is the first track we completed on the record, a hauntingly beautiful lullaby. It is an overseas collaboration with wonderful and talented, Brisa Roche who sent the vocal tracks to us all the way from Paris, France!

I will do my best to update y'all with more information regarding this awesome project as I learn more. For more information on the First5 playgroups and how to incorporate music into your family, visit: www.humkids.org

Big Love, -Battle

12.14.2015

Happy Holiday Season! I hope these words find you enjoying the bustle of it all.

I have super exciting news to share with you:

We just received a grant

from First5 Humboldt to

make a children's album!!!

I feel extremely honored to be a part of this project which will provide free classes to encourage children and families play music, sing, and dance together! Starting January 1st, I will be working with Jose Quezeda and Heather Shelton (the pioneers of this project and all-around righteous, community-minded peeps) to create and record this album which will be used to supplement musical gatherings at First5 Humboldt playgroups.

The album will include 20 or more children's songs with performances contributed by a variety of Humboldt County musicians. Not only is this gonna be super fun, but I feel like it is going to do great things within our community! As the project continues, I will do my best to keep you updated here... expect a finished product in July 2016! Looking forward to this endeavor and embarking on an exciting new year adventure. All the best, -b

10.26.2015

Well, there it went! The Summer is giving way to Fall here in Humboldt and it feels like it's entirety is a vague dream.... we've carved our pumpkins and strewn about fake spider webs on the porch (only in the places our beloved pumpkin spiders missed) to welcome the trick-or-treaters brave enough to revisit after last year's lemon cucumber debacle. And though Summer passed so quickly and it was a bit of a roller coaster ride, I will make my best attempt to sum it up and share some stand-out moments with you:

...I got engaged! I got to travel to amazing places to call some square dances, I was plagiarize by a former friend, my pet rabbit was attacked and killed by a dog during band practice, I picked up many extra shifts on KHUM, We played some really fun shows, I got to collaborate and record with some amazingly talented folks! Most notably, I got to sing on a couple tunes with The No Good Redwood Ramblers on their new record! Here's a link to their new album, I am super happy to have been a small part of it. Check out the Mixtape Song if you get a chance. I didn't sing on it, but it is my favorite song off their new record.

To sum it all up, this is my favorite recording I've been a part of this Summer. It's a recording of a tune from the movie 'Popeye' instigated by the uber talented, Andrea Zvaleko:

I hope you enjoy it :)

We have a pretty fun show coming up at the Farmhouse here in Arcata in a few weeks. We get to share the bill with Gunsafe, Belles of the Levee, and The Resonant Rogues (in town from Ashville, NC)... it is quite possibly our last show of the year as we prepare to bunker down for the holidays and pursue some more recording endeavors this Winter. I hope you can make it! -b

06.05.2015

It's begining to feel a whole lot like Summertime here in the Pacific Northwest! We are super excited to be playing at the North Coast Grower's Association Farmers Market on the Arcata plaza tomorrow! The weather folks are calling for plenty of sunshine and so many things are coming into season... the beets will be bumpin', plazoids roaming without a kale in the world, and for whatever reasons you may be thinking about opting out: I don't carrots gonna be a blast! All horrible vegetable puns aside, I truly hope to see you there.

Also, we were invited to play at this year's Trinity River Jamboree! We are really excited to step out of Humbolst and visit out neighbor County for a weekend full of great music. To get tickets in advance you can check out the lineup here: http://trinityjam.com Hope to see you out and about this Summer! xo, -b

04.21.2015

It's Springtime here in Humboldt! We are excited to be playing another show with our friends, The No Good Redwood Ramblers. This time, we are joined by more of our friends: The Compost Mountain Boys and the Cherry Pickers from Oakland, CA. We hope you come out to share what is sure to be a fun night of string band music with us! Tickets are on sale at Wildberries, the Works, Wildwood Music, People's Records, and online at www.arcatatheater.com. Hope to see you this Friday (April 24th) at the Arcata Theater Lounge! -b

02.04.2015

Thanks to all who came out to the show at Humbrews! We had a blast playing with The No Good Redwood Ramblers, and will do it again soon... here are a few photographs from the evening taken by Adam Taylor:

.... harmony, hominy, humditty, hmmm..........

Be sure to check in on the calendar from time to time, as we will be picking things up quite a bit this Spring. We also are in the midst of making another Humboldt Live Session happen a in really cool location, and will be posting it when it is done.

Cory has been steadily honing in on his skills as a recording engineer, and we will be documenting his progress by recording a few timeless classics in his home studio next month...think mostly jazz standards from the 30s-40s. It's gonna be a whole lotta fun! We hope to have them up on the world widening webs by the middle of Spring.

Also, I will be calling my share of Humboldt Folklife Society Barndances with Cory and the fellas of Striped Pig Stringband over the next few months. The dances are so much fun, and becoming a real community event here in Humboldt. I hope to see you out and about, taking part in it. xo- battle

09.23.2014

We had fun playing around with some Bowie tunes yesterday! Here's a sneak peek of a song we did for KWPT the point, and their classic cover contest.... we hope you like it. -b

09.11.2014

Whew-haw!!! It has been a wing-dang-doodle of a Summer here in Humboldt County and we are jumping back into the swing of things. After some time to spend in pursuit of other projects and adventures, we are happy to be working up some new music and adding more shows to the calendar. We are teaming up with our friends from Olympia, The Pine Hearts, to do a couple Arcata shows in mid-October.

And as per usual, will be putting our spin on a few David Bowie tunes forKWPT (The Point) and their Classic Cover Contest... where everyone's a winner! All that fun will ensue September 29th, be sure to tune into 100.3 or 102.7FM and hear what Humboldt has to offer in classic and most certainly rockin' ways. For nostalgia's sake, here's a video from the KWPT studio and the first Classic Cover Contest.

I will do my best to keep you updated on upcoming shows and new happenings.... happy harvest season! -b

02.25.2014

Daffodils are blooming, cherry blossoms taking a sneak peak at what is soon to become Springtime here in Humboldt and while awaiting the much needed rain, we too have emerged from our Winter slumber. I'm finding life here "Behind the Redwood Curtain" to be quite magical throughout all seasons, yet Spring is host to a variety of community events that I always look forward to. I am happy to announce that we have been invited to play at some of them:

•The Humboldt Permaculture Guild will once again host The Seed and Plant Exchange on Saturday, March 29th at the Arcata Community Center. I will try my best to update this with more info as it becomes available, but in years past has always been a seed-swapping good time!

•Also, we get to play at the annual Earth Day Hoedown at the Humboldt Coastal Nature Center on April 19th. The Mad River Alliance and Friends of the Dunes are teaming up for a post-coastal cleanup celebration with live music and a barn dance with Striped Pig Stringband!

•And for love of fermentation, the 4th Annual Humboldt Homebrew Festival will be happening on April 26th at the Arcata Community Center and this year's proceeds will go to benefit Engineers without Borders! As far as I know, there are a few more spots open to register if you want to pour a home-brewed something at the event and tickets will be on sale starting March 1st... more info is available at humboldthomebrewfest.com.

Aside from these particular happenings, we are beginning to schedule more shows, happy to have some new material to play at em' ta boot!

Well, holy wow! I can't believe we are almost mid-way through January and have officially survived another holiday season. This year, I kept it super mellow and really got a chance to enjoy some peaceful time with friends and family. I am finding myself still in the taking it easy mode, waiting for the rain to grace us with its presence, occasionally picking up a random spur-of-the-moment gig. But focusing this year on writing more, learning more, and living a life that continues to inspire me to be creative and share my passions with others. I am also working on introducing the idea of 'structure' into my life.... wish me luck with that!

Taking the time off the reflect upon what I love about playing music for people has provided a whole lot of clarity, faith and gratitude. Also, it has allowed me a bit of time to discover new music, delve into the work of others who inspire me to craft more meaningful, fun songs. Lately, I am really REALLY diggin' into the works of the early Calypsonians in Trinidad and Tobago.

I am overwhelmed by the positive influences of this era of music which reminds me what a gift all art is to the community! I am blessed to know so many wonderful artists and community builders who continue to create the world they want to share with those around them. We all stepped it up a bit in 2013, let's continue to be supportive of one anothers' endeavors in this new year and create lotsa beauty! -b

11.22.2013

Giving Thanks, and Thanks in Giving!!

Well, the apples have almost all fallen, frost covered mornings are beginning to set the scene as the Winter winds blow into Humboldt County. This time of year has always brought to me a certain sense of universal connection, shedding light on the Northern Hemisphere's the darkest days. In reflection of all that has come to pass in the last year, I am overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for all the love, support, and kindness we have received!

Decidedly, I am taking a break from gigging at least until the beginning of next year. Shifting gears a bit, I'll continue passing along my love for music by focusing more on teaching ukulele and voice. It is super fun and rewarding to share what little I know on the subjects.

I also got a chance to spend a weekend down in Los Angeles with great folks, play some old-time string band tunes, and learn the basics of calling square dances at Dare To Be Square! Big thanks to Humboldt Folklife Society who sponsored this endeavor, I'll be calling at future Barn Dances.... Yeeehooooo!

Lastly, a few people have asked me about where to get copies of the new album. We do our best to support local, independently owned businesses and encourage you to pick up a physical copy of the album at one of these spots:

If you don’t see a location in your area, we are happily selling copies on our website HERE.

Thanks again for all the love! I hope you and yours have a mighty fine Thanksgiving! Big Love, -b

09.17.2013

Happy harvest season, ya’ll! This Summer has been a particularly productive one for us here in Humboldt County. We are blessed to have such abundance as the rains begin to wash the fruits of our labor and are looking forward to taking some time to hang out by the woodstove to write and reflect.

In other news, we have been fortunate enough to get some positive reviews of the new record in a few local publications. Most recently,Savage Henry Independent Times (Northern California’s favorite Humor Magazine) had some interesting things to say in its most recent issue: ‘The Money Issue.’ Also, the North Coast Journalwrote a review a few weeks ago… which you can read HERE. And big thanks to ‘The Bunny Slayer’ (who insists he also nurtures rabbits as well as eats them) a physical copy of the new album is now available on this here website! He also helped me to update our contact info, so it should be a bit easier to get in touch.

This is always my favorite time of the year, and I hope that you are enjoying the Back-to-school/Harvest time bustle in the most righteous of ways. Big Love, -b

06.25.2013

The new album is here!

Thanks to all who helped by contributing and spreading the word about our kickstarter campaign. With your help, we made our goal!!

It's all happening!!! Certainly not without a little help from you, our friends! Today finds me passing around the joyous virtual hat that is KickStarter...

Upon returning from the studio yesterday, where we reviewed the first go-round of masters, we found out thatour kickstarter was ready to launch!! Now we have about 20 days to raise the funds needed to complete the whole process and press up 1000 CDs.